


Dirty Dancing

by veronamay



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Movie Fusion, Crack, Dancing, M/M, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-23
Updated: 2006-04-23
Packaged: 2017-11-27 20:57:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/666407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veronamay/pseuds/veronamay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever seen <i>Dirty Dancing</i>?  Well, then you know the plot of this story.  Except there are no girls, unless you count Jensen.  This is an AU soap opera/crackfic.  I REPEAT:  AU CRACKFIC.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dirty Dancing

**Author's Note:**

> [](http://lemmealone.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://lemmealone.livejournal.com/)**lemmealone** made me do it. No, she really did this time. Look, she totally egged me on, okay? I was fine with the whole headbanging/cha-cha discussion, and then she brought DD into it, and my head went KERSPLAT. This story is unbeta'd, because I'm not cruel enough to ask someone to take the job on.

Once upon a time there was a gorgeous young duckylipped guy by the name of Jensen, who was so pretty and yet amazingly shy about it that he was nicknamed Baby by one and all. He was the only child of an upper-middle-class whitebread family in Texas, and as far as is documented, never said boo to a goose. (Though he may once have said it to a peahen; authorities are divided on this point.)

The summer Baby turned sixteen, his parents decided to go on a family vacation to a resort in the mountains. Baby didn't mind, because it didn't occur to him to do so. He packed his clothes and sat in the backseat of the family station wagon for the five-hour drive, happily listening to his Backstreet Boys and Avril Lavigne CDs, wishing he could be as cool as they were one day. He'd never really been cool, and it had never really bothered him, but now that he was growing older and seeing other guys hook up with hot girls, he wanted to know what that was like. He'd been starting to have funny feelings in his tummy for a while now, when he looked at guys and girls together, although for some reason he felt more fluttery when he was looking at guys. Baby wasn't sure what that meant, exactly, but he liked the feeling, so he didn't worry about it. He was sort of looking forward to the vacation, though. Maybe he'd meet some people at the resort that wouldn't think he was a total dork just because he knew how to read.

They got to the resort in the late afternoon one day in July. The sun was just starting to fall in the sky, turning everything golden and sort of hazy, and Baby liked the look of that. It looked promising. He got out of the car in the parking lot of the resort and looked around. It was cozy, sort of, if a resort could be called that. Log cabins and beaten dirt paths and that sort of thing. He looked at the sign at the entryway. It said: _WINCHESTER FAMILY LODGE. Two Weeks Here, It'll Feel Like A Year!_

They settled in pretty quickly. Baby's dad was friends with the owner of the place, being that he was a doctor and he'd saved Mr Winchester's life a few years back, so they were getting a discount. Baby didn't want to know how much it cost to stay here ordinarily. It looked pretty expensive. He listened to the activities director, Maureen, reeling off the list of things they could sign up for while they were here. It felt sort of like summer camp, in a way: drawing, painting, fishing, trail walks, dance classes....

"Dance classes?" Baby looked up, focusing on Maureen's face. She smiled at him approvingly.

"Yes, we offer a variety of dance classes. We have a very talented instructor ... Jared, his name is. He's also from Texas, I believe. He teaches Latin dance, mainly, things like the cha-cha and the tango, you know. He's _very_ good." Her tone changed mid-sentence, and Baby wondered why that was, but he didn't pursue it. He liked the idea of dance classes. He'd never had much rhythm, being the sort of guy who stood at the back of the room at dances and sort of bopped his head to the beat. He'd like to learn how to dance. If he came back to school next year with some real dance classes under his belt, maybe then he wouldn't suck so hard at cheerleading tryouts.

"Sounds awesome. Sign me up," he said, suppressing his nerves. He hoped this Jared guy wouldn't laugh when he saw how bad he was. Still, a professional dance instructor – how often would he get this chance? His parents sure wouldn't shell out for this kind of thing at home.

"Great!" Maureen made a note on her clipboard and gave them all a white toothy grin. "First class is tonight, after dinner. Ask your waiter for directions to the dance hall if you're not sure."

She swished off in a cloud of terry-cloth, and Baby followed his parents around as they toured the resort, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the unspoiled natural beauty and marvelled at how close they felt to nature, and all that sort of garbage. Baby himself was fixated on the dance classes. If he knew how to cut a proper rug, he'd have _no_ trouble getting himself a girlfriend! Girls liked guys who could dance, he'd seen that for himself.

When dinner was over, Baby got directions to the dance hall from the waiter, though he was pretty sure he remembered where it was from the afternoon tour. He walked there with his hands in his pockets, head down, thinking about nothing in particular ... which is why he didn't see the person he ran into five seconds later, nearly knocking them both off their feet.

"I am so sorry," he gasped, putting out his hands. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just peachy," growled the guy he'd run into, who'd dropped a couple of watermelons. "What are you, blind?" He was average height, with cropped blond hair and a surly expression. Baby shied back a little, but he seemed fairly harmless.

"No, I was just thinking about something. I'm really sorry." Baby helped the guy pick the watermelons up. "Here, let me help you with these. Where are you taking them?"

"The dance hall," the other guy said, jerking his head. "Follow me."

"Oh, cool, that's where I'm headed," Baby said, and fell into line behind him.

"You're taking dance lessons?"

"Uh, yeah. Is there something wrong with that?"

"No." The guy turned to quirk an eye at him. "Just that you don't really seem like the type."

"There's a type?" Baby asked, puzzled.

"Usually, yeah." The guy shrugged, puffing a bit with the weight of the melon. "Okay, here we are. Watch your step going up the stairs." He led them to a large raised cabin at the edge of a small woods, from which Baby could hear a lot of heavy-sounding, pounding music. He had time to wonder if maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all – it didn't seem like this could be a real dance class, in fact it sounded like there were a lot of people in there – but then the door flew open and the sound hit him in one big bang, and he nearly fell over from the shock. The guy he was following motioned him inside with another jerk of his head, and Baby went in cautiously.

It was really loud, and really hot, and there were people dancing all pressed up close together in ways that couldn't possibly be hygienic, and Baby was already starting to feel stifled and a little bit queasy, when the gyrating crowd parted and he caught a glimpse of the most beautiful person he'd ever seen in his _life_.

He stared, openmouthed, at the vision of perfection in front of him, until someone jostled him from behind and he nearly dropped the watermelon.

"Close your mouth, fool. You want people to think you're fruity?" The watermelon guy smirked at him and walked over to a long table at the side of the hall, which was loaded with food and drink of all kinds. Baby followed him over, feeling that this was definitely not the dance class he'd been expecting. Half of these people didn't even seem to be guests here; in fact, the more he looked around the more he thought that they were _staff_. Had he got the time wrong or something? Crashed a staff party? How embarrassing.

"Uh, look," he said, awkwardly dropping his melon to the floor, "I think I'll just go. This doesn't look like a dance class to me. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow." _Like hell_ , he thought, although he'd be tempted just to find out who that divine creature was he saw through the crowd...

"So, Chad," came a velvety-smooth Texan drawl beside his ear. "Who's your friend?"

Baby spun round on one heel and came face-to-face with the very person he'd been thinking of. The beautiful person. The beautiful _guy_.

"Jared!" Chad straightened up and grinned goofily. "Hey! Hi! I was just, uh ... oh, this guy? He's with me. He came with me."

"I carried a watermelon," Baby blurted out, and instantly wanted to die. Jared just grinned a lazy, dimple-studded grin at him and took his hand.

"You need to relax," he said. "Come dance with me," and he dragged Baby onto the dance floor.

Baby had no idea what to do. He thought he was here to learn how to dance! How was he supposed to impress this guy if he didn't know any moves? And he did, he _did_ want to impress Jared. In all _kinds_ of ways. He just had a horrible feeling it wasn't going to happen. But before he knew it they were out on the floor, and Jared was gripping his waist and drawing him in close, close, close between those long legs and making sure there wasn't so much as a breath of air between them. Then he looked up at Baby and grinned that lazy grin again.

"Just do what I do," he instructed, and then he began to _thrust_.

Baby nearly fainted, it felt so amazing. So wrong, and yet so deliciously right, like it was all he'd ever been waiting to do. Jared's arms were firm and strong around his waist, and they were moving to the music like they were one person, and honestly, he was so happy he just wanted to die right now. Nothing could ever feel this good. The song was "Knock On Wood", one of his favourites (though not as good as "Dancin' Machine", his all-time favourite), and Jared was warm up against him, and he was feeling those fluttery feelings _all over_. Baby did his best to forget his nerves and just tried to follow Jared's movements. It was a little scary how easy it all was, really. He just moulded their bodies together and let his joints go sort of loose, and then the movements flowed like water over both of them. Jared had a hand on his hip and one up under his arm on his back, and Baby slung one arm around Jared's neck and let the other rest on his upper thigh. Then Jared added a liquid hip roll to the mix, and Baby went with that, bending easily when Jared pressed him backwards, pulled forward again by the magnetism of this beautiful guy's gaze, fixed so firmly on him he felt he'd be marked for life. Jared kept that same cheeky grin on his face the whole time, and Baby felt like he wanted to reach up and just bite those dimples to see if they were real.

Then all of a sudden the song was over, and Jared was twirling him off and away and turning the megawatt force of that smile on some other lucky customer, and Baby reeled over into a corner and sat there nearly comatose with his first full-blown case of lust ever. _So this is what it feels like_ , he thought, his heart pounding, his eyes glued to Jared's tall, lanky frame as he grooved against a girl half his size. _I want ... I think I want to do that again._

He noticed Chad grinning at him and blushed. His face went hot, and all he could do was push his way through the crowd and out the door. He couldn't believe himself – he _never_ did this sort of thing! He was the dorky kid in glasses at the front of the class who always knew the answer, and other people hated him because of it. That was half the reason he couldn't get on the cheerleading squad; nobody liked him enough to give him a chance, even though he was more than fit enough. He worked out every day, and he could do all the gymnastics, he just had no sense of rhythm. But he'd had no problem when he was dancing with Jared! No indeed. All Baby wanted to do was go back inside and dance some more until he was so tired he couldn't stand up, but he wasn't that sort of boy. Besides, his parents would be worrying about him by now.

Sighing, Baby stuck his hands in his pockets and slumped back to his family's lodge. His body was buzzing with unfamiliar feelings, and some things made a lot more sense to him now, but he didn't know what do to about it. Did Jared mean it when he'd danced with him? Or was it just part of his job to make the paying customers happy? Baby was sure he'd never have the guts to ask him outright. He'd just have to watch Jared and see what happened.

He let himself into the cabin and went straight to his room, barely sparing time to say good night to his parents on the way. Once he was snuggled down in his roomy king single, he let himself relive every thrilling moment of his dance with Jared. Oh yes, he wanted to do that again. Soon.

* * *

The next day, Baby saw Jared again. It turned out that Maureen had gotten the dance class times wrong – she'd said nine o'clock, and it was, but it was nine o'clock in the morning – and when Baby turned up at the dance hall, he saw Jared, dressed in tight black sweats, standing to one side, limbering up. He was instantly transfixed, mostly by the sight of one long leg stretching up, up, up beside Jared's head, nearly parallel with his body. Jared held the pose for a few seconds before repeating it on the other side, and Baby felt the need to sit down and breathe deeply for a while.

Jared looked up and saw him standing in the doorway. He stopped his stretching and smiled, a professionally welcoming smile that still retained some of the devilish glee from the previous night.

"Hi!" he said, gliding over to shake Baby's hand. "You're a bit early, but that's okay. Why don't you warm up a bit before the others get here?"

Baby thought he was more than warmed up, thank you very much, but he wasn't going to argue when Jared was smiling at him like that. So he went over to the wall and started stretching, doing some deep knee squats and lunges, bending over to touch the floor and loosening up his back muscles. He was about halfway through his set when he noticed Jared looking at him.

"What?" he asked. He hated being this nervous. Why did Jared have to be so cute?

"... nothing," Jared said, and he looked away. Baby frowned and went back to stretching, feeling like Jared's eyes were still on him. Then he noticed that Jared _was_ still watching him, facing away but looking at the big mirror in the corner of the room! That gave Baby another attack of funny feelings, and he blushed before he could stop himself.

"I'm, uh, warm enough now," he said. His voice echoed off the walls of the empty room. He looked at his watch. It was ten past nine. "Shouldn't the others have shown up by now?"

"Guess they decided to sleep in," Jared said, and whoa, there was that lazy grin again. Baby felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of it ... and then _Jared came right over to him_ and slid a hand around his waist. "What do you say we start without them?"

"Ungh," said Baby. He tried frantically to make his mouth work, to say, _Yes please, whatever you say, just don't go anywhere!_ , but his brain seemed to have detached from the rest of him. It was all right, though, Jared understood what he meant anyway, and he gazed deep into Baby's eyes for a minute before moving over to the stereo and pressing a button. The knee-weakening opening chords of Prince's "Cream" filled the room, and Baby nearly fainted again. He was supposed to dance to this song? With Jared? He'd never live through it.

"Every summer," Jared explained, as he flowed back over the floor, his hips already circling, "I put on exhibition dances for the other hotels in the area two or three nights a week. Only my dance partner is off sick this week. She got the flu all of a sudden last night." He winked at Baby. "You think you're up to filling in, if I teach you? Everyone else is booked out with their own clients."

He didn't wait for Baby to answer, just pulled him in close and fitted their hips together again, like they were meant to be that way. Baby didn't have the wit to say anything, he was so enthralled, but his body knew what to do even if he didn't. He melted against Jared and followed him like a shadow, easily bending and twisting as they ground their way against each other and around the room.

"Wow," Jared said, when the song finished. "That wasn't too bad, for a first try." He let Baby go and strode over to the stereo, changing CDs with brisk movements. Baby sank to the floor and stared blankly at his hands, trying to remember his name. "Still, we have a lot of work to do if you're going to be ready to dance a mambo by tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow?" Baby squeaked. "I can't do this by tomorrow! I don't know how to dance!"

"You looked pretty good a couple of minutes ago," Jared said. "Trust me, the mambo is easy. Though you look like more of a tango man, I guess. Or maybe a cha-cha. Yeah, cha-cha for sure." He turned back to the stereo and changed CDs again, putting on something soft and yet energetic, something that made Baby want to get back up on his feet and sashay across the floor.

"O-okay," he said, slowly getting to his feet again. "But I'm not making any promises."

"Trust me," Jared said. "I do this every day. You'll be fine. Someone as hot as you has _got_ to have some sort of rhythm somewhere."

Before Baby could respond to that, they were off again, and Jared started to bark out instructions, turning from a hotter-than-hot dance god into a somewhat annoying drill sergeant. They spent all morning in the stuffy dance hall, doing the same stupid steps over and over again, Jared pulling and twisting him about, making him dizzy, getting him all hot and bothered one minute and then totally pissing him off the next. Finally he just stopped in the middle of a step, folded his arms and pursed his lips in irritation.

"What?" Jared asked, staring at him. Staring at his mouth, actually, which pissed Baby off even more.

"We've been doing this for four hours!" he said. "I'm tired. And hungry. And completely confused. I need a break, all right?"

"We don't have time for a break!" Jared yelled. "We have to have this routine ready for tomorrow night, or else I could lose my job!"

"Well, I'm about to pass out!" Baby yelled back. "You want an unconscious dance partner on your hands, fine! I won't be much use to you if I can't even stand up!"

Jared stared at him for a second, then rubbed his hands over his face and hair.

"All right. Fine, let's take a break," he said. "I forgot you're not used to this. Sorry."

"Yeah," Baby said, and slumped to the floor. He stretched out on his back, staring at the ceiling. This sure wasn't how he'd pictured this vacation. He'd already learned a lot this morning, that was true, but he was also confused as hell. Jared kept sending out all these mixed signals, like one minute he was all flirty and up in Baby's face, and the next he was halfway across the room rapping out orders – move here, do that, no, that turn comes later – and all Baby wanted to do was smack him so hard he fell right on that gorgeous ass of his.

Wait a minute: when did he notice Jared's ass was gorgeous?

Man, he was so screwed up.

Baby shut his eyes and tried to relax. His stomach was empty, because he'd skipped breakfast, but it churned at the thought of food. He knew he'd have to eat soon whether he wanted to or not, but he didn't want to move right now. He just let himself drift, enjoying the sensation of stillness.

Seconds later he was shocked into consciousness again by Jared pouncing on him on the floor, straddling his body on hands and knees. Baby opened his eyes to find Jared grinning down at him like a predatory cat, all slanted glinting eyes and shining white teeth. His hair hung over his face, putting it in shadow, and he looked very hot and very, very dangerous.

"I'm hungry," Jared announced. "Are you hungry? Let's go get some lunch." He somehow managed to reverse-flow up to his feet, holding out a hand for Baby. That was all it took for Baby to be shocked back into speechlessness at how much he wanted Jared. He was new to this whole lust thing, but he was surely catching up fast. Only, how did he know Jared felt the same way? He was older, and probably used to people falling all over him. And there was the guy thing, and the fact that Jared was an employee here, and he was supposed to keep the guests happy, and ... oh, it was all so confusing! Baby really didn't know how to approach the subject. Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut. Jared probably wasn't interested in him anyway, other than as a dance partner.

He got up and followed Jared to the employees' mess hall, or whatever it was called. He saw a lot of people looking at him oddly, then sort of backing off when they saw he was with Jared. Obviously Jared had done this sort of thing before. That made Baby feel just about as bad as he ever had, he guessed, and he got even more annoyed with Jared for confusing him so badly. He walked to the buffet table and started slapping food down on a tray, studiously ignoring Jared looming over his right shoulder.

"Hey, uh, Baby?" Jared asked. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," he snapped, walking over to an empty table. Jared followed him like a lost puppy, his own tray loaded up with two of everything Baby was eating.

"Are you sure? Because you don't look happy." Jared picked up a hamburger and took a massive bite, his eyes fixed on Baby the entire time. Baby wrenched his eyes away and picked at his lunch.

"I'm just peachy," he gritted out. "Why don't you just leave me alone for five minutes?"

Jared put down his burger and seemed to deflate a bit. "Oh," he said. "Sorry. I didn't realise I was bothering you."

"Yeah, well, you are," Baby flared. He leaned over the table and pointed his finger at Jared's face. "Boy, you've been giving me hell all morning! Go here, do that, no, that's wrong, do it this way, can't you get it right? Y'all are forgittin' that I'm new to this. I'm not a dancer, Jared. Hell, I'm not even a ..."

"What?" Jared frowned. "You're not what?"

"Forget it," Baby muttered, and took a bite of his own hamburger. It tasted like dust in his mouth, but he forced himself to eat anyway. He had to keep his strength up for the damned dance, didn't he?

"No, really," Jared insisted, leaning over the table himself. "I know I've been kind of an asshole this morning. I'm gonna make it up to you this afternoon, I promise." He smiled at Baby, a warm, open smile unlike any Baby'd seen on his face so far.

"How?" he asked suspiciously. "More drill-instructor stuff?"

"No!" Jared put a hand on his heart. "No more of that. I've seen the error of my ways. The rest of the day is gonna be fun. Trust me." He smiled winningly, and Baby was hard-pressed not to melt right through his chair and onto the floor.

"Okay, fine," he said with a sigh, to disguise his real feelings, which were of the 'Yay, huzzah, fun Jared time!' variety. Jared lit up like a Christmas tree and went back to his lunch, and Baby felt ravenously hungry himself all of a sudden. They ate in silence for a few minutes, looking at each other and smiling every few seconds.

Chad appeared at their table, looking from Jared to Baby and back again. His mouth twisted for a moment, but then he spoke and his voice was perfectly friendly.

"Hey, I heard you were working on that exhibition dance together, while Amy's off sick. You guys making any progress?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's going okay," Jared said. "I think we'll be ready by show time. Baby's a pretty good dancer when he puts his mind to it." He cut a glance over to Baby and smiled, and Baby felt his irritation fade away even more. How could he stay mad at someone who looked at him like that?

"Thanks," he mumbled, looking down at his plate again.

"And so modest," Jared teased. Baby darted a glance up and saw Jared still looking at him, still smiling, and all he wanted to do was go away from all these people and let Jared look at him like that for the rest of both their lives.

Jared seemed to catch something of what he was feeling, because he shook himself and looked up at Chad, clearing his throat. "Uh, we got a lot of work still to do, though," he said. "We'd better get on with it, so we'll catch you later, right?"

Chad looked at Jared with narrowed eyes, then nodded. "Yeah, whatever," he muttered, and walked off without saying goodbye, shoulders slumped. Jared looked after him for a moment, then shrugged and turned back to Baby.

"So. I'm thinking it's time to show you the fun stuff," he said. "Are you done eating? Because we need to get out of here for a while."

"I need to check in with my folks first," Baby said. "They, uh, don't know what I've been doing all day, and they'll probably be worried."

"I don't do parents," Jared said. "I'll wait in the car."

* * *

Baby's parents weren't pleased with his behaviour. Not at _all_. His father frowned and his mother tsked and they both flapped their hands and said, 'Now, _son_ ...' a lot. But for once in his meek, unprotesting life Baby stood up for himself. He was sixteen, after all, and if he didn't start speaking out now he'd be a doormat forever, and where would that get him? Sitting on the couch in his mother's house eating Ring Dings and watching Oprah, that's what.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry," he said firmly, "but this is my vacation too, you know, and if I want to spend it playing pinochle with some of the kitchen staff, then you've just got to accept that. It's not like I'm gonna be out running around with God-knows-who, getting into trouble and stuff. Okay?"

His mother looked at him sadly, her eyes filling with tears.

"I guess so," she said. "My, you're growing up so quickly, Baby. I swear it was just yesterday I was changing your Pampers and reading to you about Sleeping Beauty and her charming prince."

"Yeah, well ... kids grow up, Mom," he said, and ran out of there before they changed their minds. Sleeping Beauty, for God's sake. He hadn't read that story since he was twelve. Well, maybe thirteen.

Jared was leaning against a car when Baby came outside. It was a _beautiful_ car, a huge black beast of a thing. Baby didn't really know cars, but he liked the look of this one. Jared escorted him into the passenger seat and then slid over the hood and into the driver's seat without opening the door, just like Bo and Luke used to do on _Dukes Of Hazzard_. Baby started getting all het up again just at the sight.

"We all set?" Jared asked, his eyes crinkling up in that devastating grin. Baby swallowed and nodded. "Great. So let's go."

They drove out to some empty fields with a man-made lake, and in the water they practiced stuff like lifting, and on dry land they ran through the routine again and tightened everything up, and maybe it was the change in locale and maybe it was just that he was more comfortable with Jared now, but everything went more smoothly than Baby could've hoped for. At the end of a hard two-hour session they had it down, anticipating each other's moves, adding a little twist or flourish here, an extra spin there, until even Jared had to admit they were done. He flopped down onto the grass and shielded his eyes from the sunlight, looking up at Baby.

"You're getting pretty good," he said. "I like those little hip bumps you added to the cha-cha section, they really spice it up."

"It's just something I thought of on the spot," Baby said, glowing from the praise. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his damp jeans and toed the ground. "You really think I'm ready for this?"

"Oh, yeah. You're ready for anything," Jared said, and his voice sounded different, but before Baby could figure that out he found himself flat on his back on the ground, with Jared looming over him again. The bastard had hooked Baby's ankle and made him fall over! That made Baby so mad he couldn't even see straight, but then Jared leaned down real close to him and started sort of sniffing his neck, nuzzling under his jaw and down his shoulders, under the collar of his grey t-shirt.

"What are – what are you doing?" he asked in a faint voice. Jared raised his head and grinned.

"I thought it'd be obvious by now," he said. "I'm putting the moves on you." He put his mouth _right down next to Baby's_ and whispered, "Any objections?"

Baby's eyes rolled back in his head, and he whimpered. Jared's grin widened against his mouth, and then they were kissing, for real, no more teasing, and Baby was so thrilled by it all he thought he'd die. Nobody would ever believe this. Hell, he had nobody to tell who wouldn't believe this! But he didn't care, because he was flying so high right now it was like being on top of the world's highest cheerleading pyramid. Jared's mouth was so soft and gentle and he tasted like ketchup and lake water, which were now two of Baby's favourite flavours. He arched up into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Jared's waist, spreading his legs when Jared eased his weight down onto Baby's body so they were pressed together from shoulder to knee. Oh, it felt wonderful. Baby never wanted it to stop, ever. And it kept getting better, because he could feel himself getting hard and Jared getting hard, which was amazing, and then Jared's clever hands undid both their jeans and then their cocks were rubbing together in a warm damp space, and before he could draw another breath Baby was coming really, really hard, just from a little kissing and rubbing, and while half of him wanted to sink through the ground in embarrassment the other half just wanted to do it all again. And meanwhile Jared kept pressing into him, thrusting and moaning low in his throat, licking at Baby's collarbone and clenching his hands in Baby's hair, until he came too with a drawn-out growl and collapsed, shaking, onto Baby's heaving chest.

"Uh," Baby said, opening his eyes. "Wow." The sky looked really blue.

"Yeah," Jared agreed. He'd stuck his head under Baby's chin and sounded half-asleep. Baby was sort of proud of that.

"That's not part of the routine, is it?"

Jared's head shot up, then his eyes narrowed as he saw the cheeky smile on Baby's face. He nipped at Baby's shoulder through his shirt in retaliation.

"Ow!"

"Don't be cheeky," Jared said, then put his head down again. "And no, definitely not. I think it would be a very bad thing if this got to be public knowledge."

"Why?" Baby asked, puzzled. "What's so bad about it?"

"For one thing, I work here. I'm not supposed to fraternise with the guests. It could mean my job if your parents make a complaint, and I need this job. For another, you're what, sixteen? Which is way too young, believe me. And thirdly, the whole two-guys thing is not that popular in these parts." Jared sat up and sighed. "Now the afterglow's all ruined."

"Wait, just wait a minute," Baby said, sitting up as well. "If you knew all that, why did you start this in the first place?"

Jared looked over at him for a minute, his face blank. Then the most beautiful smile yet appeared, and he cupped Baby's face in one big palm. "Because you're too damned pretty not to," he whispered. "I couldn't help myself, Baby."

"Oh," Baby said, and closed his eyes to savour the feeling. He'd never been wanted before. When he opened them again, Jared was frowning in turn.

"What's your real name, anyway? I bet your parents didn't christen you Baby. They better not have, anyway."

"Jensen," Baby said. "Only I never get called that at home. And at school it always gets shortened to Jen or Jenny, which is not the greatest thing in the world, so I'm not any better off either way, really." He shrugged.

Jared continued to frown, looking away from Baby for a moment. Just as Baby was starting to worry that he'd said the wrong thing, Jared turned back to him and his eyes lightened.

"Okay," he said. "We could go through the routine one more time, or ..." He winked. "We could break that routine again. Your call."

"Gee, let me think for a minute," Baby teased, feeling on top of the world, and then Jared knocked him back to the ground for a tussling match that turned into something more, and he forgot about everything else for a while.

* * *

They carried on this way in secret for the next week and a half, always meeting in out-of-the-way places at odd hours, never knowing which time would be their last. Baby didn't know how Jared felt about things, but he was dreading having to leave. He'd never been this happy before, and he didn't know how he was going to live without his 'dance partner'. They were as good on the dance floor as off, totally attuned to each other's movements, and the male/male couple thing didn't seem to faze any of the guests at the other hotels they performed at. In fact, Baby made quite a lot of money in tips those nights, though he had no idea why people kept throwing keys at him. Jared scowled when he saw that happening, and gathered all the keys up to give to the concierge.

"We're not that kind of act," he said firmly, and dragged Baby out to the car.

They always made out on the way home on these nights, and Baby would have to creep into the cabin in the middle of the night without waking his parents, then face up to breakfast at seven or eight in the morning, pretending he'd had a full night's sleep. But he was young and in love, and he didn't care about missing a few hours of shut-eye. Jared was worth it. It was all worth it.

Then, four days before they were due to leave, the dream ended.

"Baby!" his father yelled, standing in the doorway to his room. "You git your ass out here right now, boy! You've got some explainin' to do."

Baby knew instantly what had happened. Someone had seen him with Jared, or seen them dancing somewhere, and mentioned it to his father, and now everything was going to be messed up. He slowly got to his feet and dragged himself into the living room, head down.

"Ted Johnson tells me he saw you two nights ago," his father said in a too-calm voice. "At the Kripke place. Dancing a tango with that ... that _dance instructor_. Ted paid you quite the compliment. Said you were a 'fine little performer'." His tone twisted the words, made them ugly. "Do you want to tell us just exactly what you've been doing with that boy the past two weeks, or should I just fill in the blanks?"

"I've been dancing!" Baby shot back, angry at the slurs being cast at Jared. "Jared's been teaching me all these steps, and he's really good, and he thinks _I'm_ really good too. I've made hundreds of dollars in tips at those other hotels. Hundreds!"

His mother put her hands over her mouth to stifle her moan of dismay. His father's face turned brick-red, and he turned away from Baby to stand over near the window, gripping the frame like he wanted to crush it.

"You will not see that boy again," he ground out. "You don't leave this cabin again until the day we leave, do you hear me? I will not have any son of mine running around on a dance floor with some gigolo, swinging his hips like a damned prostitute!"

"It's not like that!" Baby protested, but his father cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it," he said. "It's done. It's over. We're leaving here the day after tomorrow, and you are grounded for the rest of your adolescence. You better get used to that thought right now, sonny. You've proven to us that you can't be trusted."

He stormed out of the room, Baby's mother following after like a drifting shadow, and Baby stared at the wall, his stomach feeling hollow. He bet Jared was going to lose his job now. What was he going to do? If word got out that he'd led a nice young boy like Baby astray, nobody would ever hire him again. And it was so wrong, because there hadn't been any seduction in it at all, it was both of them equally, all the way. But nobody else would see it like that because Baby was younger. Nobody would listen to him, and Jared would have to leave, and they'd never see each other again.

Baby wondered how Ted Johnson had found out about them. He didn't stray too far from the golf course ordinarily, and he wasn't the dinner-and-a-show type. The more he thought about that, the more suspicious he got. Somebody must've tipped him off, set him up to tell Baby's father. But who?

He found out later that night when they went to the restaurant for dinner. Baby was sandwiched between his parents, feeling like a chastised puppy, when his eyes flicked over Chad dressed in a waiter's tuxedo. He was leaning confidentially over Ted Johnson's table, and Baby saw him smile and take a folded bill from Ted's hand and pocket it with a grin. Then his gaze caught Baby's, and he smirked and turned sharply on his heel, showing Baby his back.

_Oh my God_ , Baby thought in shock. _Chad? But he was always so nice!_ But maybe he wasn't, not really, because Baby remembered that day in the employee mess hall, when Chad got that funny look on his face and then walked away from them both. Jared hadn't seemed too fussed about it, but Baby remembered it had bothered him at the time. He'd forgotten about it in the joy of being with Jared, but now it came back to him in sharp clarity. It was Chad. Chad had set him up. Set them both up, out of jealousy. Baby recognised that look he'd worn now. It was the look of a jilted lover. Jared and Chad must've had a thing going at one time.

"Oh, damn," Baby whispered aloud. This was really going to upset Jared. He thought Chad was his best friend in all the world. Baby wished so hard he could go to Jared right now, and hug him and tell him everything was going to be all right. But he was trapped here, watched like a hawk, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He stared out the window of the restaurant, onto the wraparound porch, and caught sight of something moving against the glass. Peering through the dimmed lighting, he thought he saw a figure ... no ... wait, yes! It was Jared, trying to wave at him! Baby fluttered his fingers back in reply and looked around, seeing his parents deep in discussion with their dinner partners on either side of him. Excusing himself briefly, Baby rose to his feet and made his way toward the bathroom, ducking out one of the doors onto the porch at the last instant.

"Jared!" he whispered in the gloom. "Where are you?"

"Right here, Baby," and Jared's mouth closed over his own, kissing him deeply enough to make Baby dizzy. He hugged Jared to him as tightly as he could and stayed that way after they paused for breath. This was borrowed time they had now, and every second was precious.

"Chad set us up," Jared murmured in his ear. "I found out earlier today. I'm sorry, Baby. I thought he was my friend."

"Are you all right?" Baby ran his hands through Jared's hair and cupped his face, trying to see it clearly. "When my dad told me, I thought for sure they'd have kicked you out straight away. What's going on?"

Jared's mouth twisted. "The Winchester Lodge Annual Dinner Dance is tomorrow night," he said. "I've been doing an exhibition number every year since I started working here. It's become a tradition, and the Winchesters are all about tradition. I'm allowed to finish out the season if I keep to myself and don't mingle with the guests. I won't be invited back next year."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Baby moaned, hugging him close. Jared squeezed him hard, lifting him off his feet for a second, then pushed him back enough to see his face.

"I'm not sorry," he said fiercely. "Not for any of it. Do you hear me? And I'll find you again, Baby. Hell if I won't. You're eighteen in a couple of years – that's not so far away. We'll get through this until then."

Baby gazed up at him, feeling so proud and full of love he wanted to burst. "Yeah, we will," he affirmed, and pressed a chaste kiss to Jared's mouth to seal it.

"I'd better go before someone catches us," Jared said. He pulled away from Baby and took a few steps, then turned back. "You'll be at the dinner tomorrow?"

"I'll be there," Baby promised. "Hey, Jared ... I—I love you."

He'd never said that before, to anyone. He'd always thought it sounded ridiculous aloud. But from the look on Jared's face, it didn't sound ridiculous to him. He strode back over and pulled Baby in for a kiss that felt like their souls were meeting, then pushed him away and was gone before Baby could take a breath.

"Until tomorrow," Baby whispered, smiling into the darkness. Then he went back inside to play the dutiful son.

* * *

Their last day at Winchester Lodge was unfairly sunny, Baby thought. It should be cloudy and cold on a day like this, to match his mood. His parents were still looking at him like he was a changeling instead of a human being, and he hadn't a hope of seeing Jared again before they left, except at the dinner tonight. And he was sure that things wouldn't get any better when they were at home. This was pretty much going to be his life from now until he left for college.

"It's not fair," Baby said to the walls of his bedroom, and punched a pillow. It wasn't fair, not at all. Why wouldn't his parents believe him when he tried to explain it to them? It was like they just didn't want to admit that their son could be a dancer, or could be in love with another guy. Stupid. "Stupid," he repeated. It didn't help. Sighing, he got up to take a shower before dressing for dinner. Even though he wasn't going to be with Jared tonight, he could at least look his best for him.

The dinner was just like every other dinner they'd had here, except that tonight everyone was in their sparkling best, all the jewellery and tuxes pulled out of mouldy storage to compete with everyone else's. Baby wore his plain black suit with a plain black tie, not realising how well it set off his beauty in its simplicity. He outshone almost every other man in the room – with perhaps the exception of Jared, who was dressed in black close-fitting dance trousers and a stark red shirt that clung to his frame. Baby couldn't take his eyes off Jared as he walked into the room, and he saw Jared's eyes scanning the crowd until he found Baby, their eyes meeting with a snap like an electric current. They smiled silently at each other, and Jared mouthed, _I love you_ before he was led off backstage to set things up for the dance. Baby floated over to the table with his parents, not caring what else happened tonight. Jared loved him. That was all he knew.

Dinner passed with excruciating slowness. Baby was pleased for once that everyone ignored him, because it gave him more time to catch glimpses of Jared as he moved about backstage. Baby wondered who his dance partner would be. He was instantly jealous of whoever it was, wishing – knowing – that it was his place they were taking at Jared's side. The dance began to seem less like a lifeline and more like an exercise in torture. How was he supposed to watch Jared dancing with someone else and not cry out against it? He couldn't do it. But he had no choice now; his parents were once again on either side of him, and if he tried to ease away they'd be on him like white on rice. And even as he tried to formulate a plan the lights went down and John Winchester came out on the stage, the microphone he carried whining with feedback.

"Good evening, friends!" he said cheerily over the halfhearted applause. "It's wonderful to see so many smiling faces out there. And so many of them are familiar faces, which is even better! I'm so pleased you've all decided to share your summer with us here at Winchester's.

"As our repeat visitors will know, the last dinner of the season here is traditionally followed by an exhibition dance by our in-house instructors. Tonight we are pleased to present to you: Jared Padalecki and partner, in 'Cha-Cha-Tango-Meltdown'!"

The applause was a good deal warmer this time, as Winchester left the stage and Jared came out under a single spotlight. He was alone. Baby sat up, wondering what was going to happen. Jared walked to the edge of the stage and looked out into the audience, ignoring the bright lights in his face.

"As Mr Winchester said, it's traditional for me to do the last dance of the season here," he said quietly, and he didn't need a microphone because everyone stopped talking to hear him. "Part of that tradition is that I get to choose the partner I dance with. This year somebody told me not to." He looked at someone offstage, then turned back. "But I'm going to do it anyway, because I deserve it, and my partner deserves it, and so do you." He took a deep breath, jumping down off the stage and winding his way through the tables until he came over to Baby, tucked away at the back of the room, blocked into a corner. Jared looked hard at Baby's parents for a long moment.

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner," he said, and held out his hand.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" Baby's father began, but Baby wasn't listening. He scrambled onto the table and across it, straight into Jared's arms, and they ran up on to the stage together. Jared held Baby's hand and faced the crowd again.

"I'd like you all to meet my partner," he said. "Jensen Ackles." Then he nodded to the sound technician offstage, and it was like Baby's feet had never stopped moving from that very first day. They swung into the rhythm as easy as breathing, and there was a smile on Jared's face that told Baby he was happy, truly happy, no matter what happened now. They'd done it. Everyone knew, and the world hadn't ended, and anything better than that would be a bonus. For now, they just wanted to dance.

Halfway through the routine Baby dared a glance at the audience, and nearly missed a step in his shock. People were pushing tables back against the walls, making a space to dance in, and couples were rapidly filling it up. He nudged Jared and grinned, and Jared motioned again to the sound tech, who faded out the soundtrack and brought up a new one: "I Want You", by Savage Garden. Baby grinned so hard he thought his face would crack. Jared pulled him in and mouthed the words of the chorus to him, and then he kissed him. When he pulled back they were pressed together like the first time they danced, and that was as natural as breathing.

"I think we're gonna cause a heart attack with this," Baby said, looking around. Jared captured his face in one hand and brought it back to his own.

"Do you care?" he breathed against Baby's face.

"Not really."

"All right then. So kiss me already, and let's have some fun, and let the rest take care of itself."

Baby kissed him again, then broke away when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw his father standing there, gruff and uncomfortable.

"I ain't happy about this," he said bluntly, gesturing to the two of them. "Don't know if I ever will be. But I found out from Ted Johnson today that what he'd learned about you was all lies, and I wanted to apologise."

"Apology accepted," Jared said evenly. He didn't let go of Baby.

"Baby ..." his father said. "Jensen. You're ..." He cleared his throat. "You're not bad at this. Maybe we'll get you some lessons or somethin' when we get home."

"Thanks, Dad," Baby said, smiling. He wouldn't need them, but he appreciated the gesture.

His father grunted and walked off, his piece done. Baby and Jared looked at each other.

"Wow," Jared said.

"Yeah," Baby agreed.

"Huh," they said together, and went back to dancing.

END


End file.
